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For the last two weeks, India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has been lowering its orbit around the moon as it prepares for India’s first attempt at a lunar landing. On Monday, the Vikram lunar lander separated from the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, in the last major maneuver before the scheduled landing on Friday. If everything goes as planned, India …

Chandrayaan-2 was launched in July. Getty/Arun Sankar The moment of truth has almost arrived for India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission to the moon. After blasting off in July and snapping some gorgeous moon photos on the way, the spacecraft is now ready to begin its final descent to the moon’s currently unexplored south pole. At 3:12 p.m. PT …